LIVE BLOG: PRESIDENT IN MASH CENTRAL

1611: President Mnangagwa says the mine had not been fully functional for the past 15 years with various investors coming and going, but the current investors were there to stay.

1607: Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri has now invited President Mnangagwa to address the guests.

1542: Min Muchinguri-Kashiri said as a party they had realised they were fooling themselves to give former leader Mr Robert Mugabe another five years. That is when ZANU-PF decided to allow President Mnangagwa to take over.

1517: Min Muchinguri says the President was chosen as leader last year because of the political journey he has travelled since he was 16 years old. She says the President is credited for his historic act in bombing a locomotive in Masvingo which sent a message to the settler regime that the locals had had enough of colonial rule.

She narrates how the President was imprisoned for his anti-colonial stance but because he was under 18 years of age the colonial regime spared him the death sentence.

“He got out of prison but never gave up politics until Zimbabwe attained independence. After 1980 he has held several ministerial posts until being elevated to the office of Vice President in 2014 and finally the Presidency… it was from his appointment as VP that trouble started for President Mnangagwa. But last year the masses said enough is enough.”

1513: Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri is now on the podium and starts by saying “Mdara vauya” in reference to President Mnangagwa. Minister Muchinguri is introducing the President whose initials ED, she says, now mean Economic Development. She says the President is a listening leader who values the masses. She further describes him as a servant and unifying leader who does not keep grudges.

1502: Acting Minister of Mines and Mining Development July Moyo is now addressing the gathering and takes time to honour and recognise the traditional chiefs including chiefs Chipuriro, Bepura, Matsvivo and Chitsungo who are present. The minister tells the people of Guruve that they are lucky because the President has shown enthusiasm in the venture and assured the investors they will operate unhindered. He also thanks the leadership of Eureka Mine for their vision to build community infrastructure.

1454: Delta Gold Zimbabwe Eureka Gold Mine chairman Mr Chimbangu is now on the podium. He says Guruve is now open for business and jobs will come to the local community.

“We want to develop Guruve and the nation at large. We are now developing and we are now going forward with a Government that has good policies. I want to thank the employees who stayed and remained loyal to the company as the company worked to return to its glory days.”

Mr Chimbangu says the mine would stretch to Muzarabani.

“We cannot all concentrate our lives in politics when our children are in poverty,”

1453: Min Dinha asked the guests and the local community to welcome the President through thunderous ululation and cheer. He said it was with great humility that the President took time to stop his motorcade to greet children from a local school as his entourage made its way to the venue. Min Dinha said it is pleasing to note that the mine, which has been struggling in the last 15 years, will soon reach its optimal operating levels after the new dispensation moved in to ensure progress. He says the President had seen to it that employees at the mine who were previously owed salaries by the former owners were paid.

1445: Minister of State for Mashonaland Central provincial affairs Advocate Martin Dinha takes to the podium and welcomes the guests.

1430: President Mnangagwa is back from the tour and is now preparing to address the invited guests and the local community.

1423: His Excellency has officially opened the mine for the resumption of operations.

President Mnangagwa has officially opened the mine

1400: The President is now going on a tour of the mine.

1323: President Mnangagwa has arrived and gone into a briefing.

1312: Eureka Mine process director Mr Mark Evans says it will take about three months to clear the water in the mine pit. Currently, the mine employs at least 300 workers and when operations reach maximum level in about 18 months the staff complement should be slightly above 400.

Eureka Mine process director Mr Mark Evans

1253: The local community has assembled to welcome President Mnangagwa for the event that is being held on a purely business agenda, hence no regalia. The President has been emphasising the need to separate economic issues from politics. Eureka Gold Mine was previously owned by an Australia based company. The Australians left in a huff some five years back in protest against the former regime’s unfriendly business policies.

1242: Local Government, Public Works and National HousingMinister July Moyo has arrived.

1240: Eureka Mine is located 10 kilometres from Guruve’s main business centre and lies on part of Dande River. The mining activity was open cast and since the venture’s abandonment, the mine is now filled with water estimated to be 45 metres deep, but the resumption of operations will see the water being cleared in a short space of time.

People arriving at the venue

1201: Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa will be heading for Guruve to officiate at the reopening of Eureka Gold Mine. The mine stopped operations in 2000. Hundreds of people from nearby villages are already streaming in to attend the ceremony.

1210:Registrar of the University, Mr Pardon Majaure hands over a present to President Mnangagwa bringing a close to proceedings here at Bindura University of Science Education.

1159: Professor Mwenje says he feels highly honoured by President’s presence in the province and thanked him for being the patron of the academy.
He assures the President that the academy will realise its vision of being the leading sports academy in Zimbabwe. Prof Mwenje thanks the President for donating 4 000 litres of fuel to be used by the army trucks in the construction work. He says the launch and groundbreaking ceremony was one of the university’s 100-day quick win solutions.

1157: BUSE Vice-Chancellor Professor Eddie Mwenje is now giving a vote of thanks.

1143: President Mnangagwa has finished his address and officially launches the BUSE National Sports Academy project.

1142: The President says negative headlines call for the clean up of some sports associations and his Government is going to correct anomalies of some sports disciplines.

“As the country goes for the elections, we should draw lessons from sports and accept results gracefully,”

1128: “Sports is now organised, mechanised and administered as a business. Sports acts as a direct and indirect catalyst of promoting hope, peace, unity and development of a country. The time has now arrived for Zimbabwe to tap into the benefits of sports development,”

He calls on investors to invest in sports development while exhorting various sports stakeholders to intensify sports development across the country.

“The country has produced talented athletes like Artwell Mandaza, Proud Chinembiri, Kirsty Coventry, Alfonso Zvenyika and others. There is a need for more athletes of this nature to be produced. BUSE has bestowed a doctorate degree on Kirsty Coventry because of her exploits in swimming,”

President Mnangagwa shortly after his arrival

1126: His Excellency says he is happy with the direction the university is taking in sponsoring talented sports personnel.

“The facility should be a vehicle for sports development as well as promote a scientific approach to sports development. I will ensure continuous Government support as sports is an important facet in human capital development,”

1123: President Mnangagwa says the groundbreaking ceremony is momentous as it is happening on the backdrop of the successful Cosafa victory by the Warriors showing that Zimbabwe is still a force to reckon in Southern Africa. He hails the exploits of tennis ace Tatenda Garanganga, the Mighty Warriors and the Sables.

He says the Constitution encourages sporting and recreational activities.

“This project will see the construction of the first ever academy which is a landmark development in the country. This facility will enhance the level of sports development in the country,”

1118: President Mnangagwa is now on the podium with Jah Prayzah’s “Kutonga Kwaro” being belted from the Public Address System.

1110: She says President Mnangagwa’s stance on the death sentence stems from the torture he suffered at the hands of the Smith regime when he was sentenced to death. This has led to him not supporting the death sentence.

1108: Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri, is now introducing President Mnangagwa whom she describes as a politician par excellence.

1105: Minister Kazembe says the project resonates with the national sports policy of establishing a sports centre of excellence.

“The policy’s intention is that the country should have centres of excellence. This will prompt a more professional approach to sports development. This will help in addressing unemployment,”

Min Kazembe says the sports academy will help in identifying and nurturing talent which was lacking in different sports disciplines in the country. He says failure to qualify for major events has called for the development of sports academies in the country.

“My ministry and other line ministries are rolling out the community sports and club systems across the country. The idea to have a National Sports Academy was mooted in 2006 and took years for it to be realised but it has happened in the seven months of the new dispensation.”

1102: Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kazembe Kazembe is now on the podium.

1100: Prof Murwira says the sports academy will not be put to waste and believes that the country is moving forward. This will attract local and foreign investors which will help to speed up construction and meet the set construction targets.

1058: Prof Murwira says he wants to emulate President Mnangagwa who talks less but acts more.

“The National Sports Academy is a first of its kind in Zimbabwe and will act as an innovative hub. It will be a centre of excellence and sports research,”

1056: “Education that cannot be transformed into goods and services will not take the country anywhere. We want to create a Zimbabwe desired by people through an inclusive education system. Sports as an industry is worth over $5 billion because sport is no longer a hobby but a big industry,”

President Mnangagwa speaks to Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development Amon Murwira

1052: Prof Murwira says the country is moving towards realising Vision 2030 of a middle-income society. He says he wants universities to have three missions of giving education, sports development and community development. He says his ministry is now coming up with an innovation hub of bridging education with industrial development.

“This sports academy is the fifth pillar because sports is an industry. The President’s strategic intelligence will take the country to Vision 2030,”

1050: Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira is now on the podium.

1030: Minister of State for Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Advocate Martin Dinha is now giving welcome remarks. Adv Dinha says the province is excited by the development of the sports academy which will change the face of Mashonaland Central. He says the province has heard President Mnangagwa’s call for peace ahead of the harmonised elections as no case of political violence has been reported so far. The Province suffered 13 percent loss of maize crop because of the dry spell in parts of Mbire, Rushinga, Mt Darwin, Kanyemba and Guruve need food aid with a total of 49 300 households in need food aid in the province. He says the province has enough food stocks to feed its population following the success of the Command Agriculture Programme.

1025: The event is being graced by sportspersons who have represented Zimbabwe at various sporting events winning a number of medals for the country. Other tertiary institutions, heads of Government departments, the corporate world, ambassadors and the provincial leadership.